Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel's Indecent, which officially opens on Broadway April 18 at the Cort Theatre, has been added to The Guthrie Theater's 2017–2018 subscription season. The lineup will also feature the Minneapolis venue's first-ever production of the classic American musical West Side Story.
The two productions join the previously announced Romeo and Juliet and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner on the Wurtele Thrust Stage, as well as Watch on the Rhine, Blithe Spirit, Familiar, An Enemy of the People, and The Legend of Georgia McBride on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.
The new play with music Indecent, which was conceived by Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, will be presented February 17–March 24, 2018. A director will be announced at a later date. Artistic Director Joseph Haj will direct West Side Story, which will round out the thrust season, playing June 16–August 26, 2018.
“As a playwright and a teacher, Paula Vogel has had an indelible impact on our field and she remains one of the most essential voices writing today. We are beyond thrilled to bring her work to our audience for the first time,” said Haj in a statement. “As an exploration of artistic censorship, Indecent is absolutely perfect for our current social and political moment.”
Haj added, “West Side Story is one of the greatest musicals of the 20th century and has long been on my wish list of plays to direct. Next summer marks the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth, and I can’t think of more fitting way for the Guthrie to celebrate his legacy and contributions to the American theater than to present this genre-defining musical on the thrust stage.”
Casting for both productions will be announced at a later time.
Indecent is inspired by the 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance, in which a Jewish brothel owner learns of the lesbian romance between his 17-year-old daughter and a prostitute. The play charts the journey of Asch’s controversial drama, which was upheld as a groundbreaking piece of Jewish literature by some and an act of obscenity by others. An ensemble of eight actors plays music as well as nearly 40 roles to shed light on one of the most fascinating scandals in theatre history.
Check out photos from the Broadway production of Indecent below:
Katrina Lenk and Adina Verson in Indecent
New season subscriptions start at $90 and go on sale May 19 through the Season Ticket Office at (612) 225-6238 and at GuthrieTheater.org.
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